The list of PS4 exclusive games is relatively short right now

Knack is simple and charming but definitely will only appeal to a certain type of gamer. It also suffers from a variety of issues, mainly how repetitive the game begins to feel after you get about halfway through it.

Knack is deceptively difficult, particularly if you play through it on its normal or hard difficulty level. Playing Knack on easy, is a breeze, especially if you’re gaming with someone who isn’t familiar with video games. There is also something relaxing about playing on easy and bashing through hordes of enemies with ease.

I see Knack as a family-friendly version of God of War or Ryse. The ample blood and extreme violence is gone, but the same simple hack-and-slash gameplay remains intact. Some people feel Knack is too difficult, even on its normal difficulty level, but if you take your time and plan out attacks methodically, the game is relatively easy, especially if you’re playing with a friend.

Part of Knack’s strategy is choosing which enemy to take out first. Should you attack that goblin with a bow and arrow that’s spraying arrows at you repeatedly from a hill top, or the massive robot looming just around the corner? Choosing which enemy to take out first is often the key to success or failure in Knack and adds another level of strategy to a game that at first glance, looks really easy.

When Knack is hit by one of the game’s goblin or robotic enemies, pieces of his body fly off, making attacks and special moves less effective. Finding more artifacts to build up Knack’s body all over again is essential to survival.

While the cooperative mode in Knack is a welcome addition to the game, your metal Knack co-op buddy isn’t able to interact with the environment in the same way the play controlling Knack can. You can’t flip switches and metal Knack seems to just get larger and smaller as actual Knack does.

Knack looks like a simple kid-centric game, but that’s part of the title’s appeal.

Playing with a friend also makes the game much easier because the player controlling Knack needs to die before having to restart from the last check point. During certain difficult sections of the game, I’d send in metal Knack to do all the dirty work while I sat back and watched.

Knack also harkens back to old school platformers like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro, which makes sense since much of the game’s mechanics come from the mind of an individual who helped mold those franchises, Mark Cerny. Knack is far from ground breaking and does very little to innovate or show off the PS4’s capabilities, especially in the graphics department (other than some cool particle effects). I found Knack a very refreshing experience though, especially in comparison to the barrage of gritty, dark, first-person shooters that have flooded the market over the last few years.

Knack isn’t an ugly game and, unlike most people, I don’t think its visuals would have been possible with the PlayStation 3. Still, it’s not the kind of game you pop into your new PS4 to impress your graphics-obsessed friend.

Knack, in his cute, base non particled up form.

Everything from its colourful, Pixar inspired graphics, to its silly, humans vs. goblins plot line is charming and refreshing. If you’re a huge fan of first-person shooters and never enjoyed the mascot video game era of the mid to late 90s (think Banjo Kazooie and Jak and Daxter), then Knack certainly won’t be for you.

Towards the middle of Knack, I started to get bored. While elemental-based attacks and a few new abilities are thrown into the mix, Knack’s gameplay is still the same button mashing, hack-and-slash action you experienced earlier. This is more of a problem with the genre than Knack’s actual gameplay. Still, it would have been nice if more variety was added to the game.

Also, I don’t feel like Knack’s extremely deep voice fits the character at all, especially in his pint sized form.

Knack is far from perfect, but since it’s just one of two exclusive PlayStation 4 launch titles out right now, there’s very little reason not to play it. I’ve played the game a few times at different PS4 preview events and always thought it had a ton of potential. I’m pleased to see the final game isn’t disappointing. Make no mistake though, Knack certainly isn’t the system selling title the PlayStation 4 needs right now.

Knack looks more like a highly detailed PlayStation 3 title than a PlayStation 4 launch game.

I’m hoping that Knack is the start of a new franchise and I’m excited to see what direction Cerny takes the series in with the hopefully inevitable sequel that will probably get released in a few years.